Plate catcher



April 22, 1930. F. R. KRAUSE ET AL PLATE CATCHER- Filed Feb. 26, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet WITNESSES INVENTORS April 22, 1930. F. R. KRAUSE ET AL PLATE CATCHER Filed Feb. 26, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS April 22, 1934). F.- R. KRAUSE ET AL PLATE CATCHER Filed Feb. 26, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTORS April 22, 193Q. F. R. KRAUSE ET AL 1,755,356

PLATE CATCHER Fileq Feb. 26, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 April 22, 1930. R KRAUSE ET AL PLATE CATCHER' F iled Feb. 26, 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 WPI'NESSES Patented Apr. 22, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRANK R. KRAUSE AND RALPH G. STIEFEL, OF ELLWOOD- CITY, PENNSYLVANIA PLATE CATCHER Application filed February 26, 1929. Serial No. 342,695.

This invention relates to mills for rolling sheet metal according to the Welsh process, and has particularly to do with apparatus for returning the plates or sheets from the back to the front of the mill.

Although plate catchers have been devised, and some have been built, nevertheless the prevailing practice is to employ two men to operate each mill, a roller to feed the plates or sheets into the mill, and a helper to catch and return them over the top of the rolls to the roller. Because such manual handling of themetal is both laborious and slow, it materially adds to rolling costs.

The object of this invention is to provide a sheet rolling mill with a practical catching and transferring apparatus which is simple in construction, and effective to auto matically and quickly return rolled sheet-s from the back to the front of a mill in a position for convenient engagement by a roller for rerolling.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken through the center of a rolling mill and plate transferring apparatus, the section being taken on the line I-I of Fig. 3, and showing the transfer mechanism in itssheet-receiving position; Fig. 2 a view similar to Fig. 1 illustrating the transfer mechanism in discharging position, and also showing a modification of a detail of construct-ion presently to be explained; Fig. 3 a top plan view of the mill and transfer apparatus with a portion of the transfer apparatus frame cut away to illustrate its construction-said view being taken on the line III-III of Fig. 1; Fig. 4: a detailed section- :11 view taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 a detailed sectional view taken on the line V-V of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 a sectional view taken on the broken line VI-VI of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 a detail view looking upwardly at the lower end of a guideway slot cam and illustrating a latch finger presently to be explained; Fig. 8 a diagrammatic view illustrating various positions of a transfer rack and guide lever during an upward travel of the transfer rack; and Fig. 9 a view similar to Fig. 8 showing various positions of the same merlpbers during a downward travel of the rac The plate transfer mechanism provided ac-. cording to this invention includes a skeleton table for receiving plates, and a rack adapted to be moved upwardly through the table to remove a plate from it and deposit the plate at another point. That a plate may be placed upon the table while the rack is transferring another plate, provision is made for causing the rack to move downwardly beyond the table and then upwardly to a position below its upper surface. To such end, the-rack preferably comprises a plurality of bars formed into a rigid structure which is pivotally supported intermediate of its ends by arms which are moved upwardly and downwardly to raise and lower the rack. These arms arepreferably pivotally supported at their ends, and for causing the rack to 7 move outwardly beyond and then upwardly beneath the skeleton table, there is provided K a cam slot which engages an arm attached to the rack, the arrangement being such that the rack is turned end for end in each cycle of 74 its operation.

When the transfer apparatus is used in connection with a sheet-rolling mill, as is preferred, the rack is preferably actuated by and in coordination with the mill, means being provided to cause the rack to move at will through each of its cycles of. operation. The rack is caused to move upwardly in a substantially horizontal plane, and when it reaches the top of the mill it is caused to tilt downwardly towards the mill so that a plate will slide from the rack over the top roll of the mill. In front of the mill, and extending over the top roll, there is preferably provided a stationary table or rack for receiving plates from the transfer rack, and for hold-' ing them until the roller desires to pass them again through the mill. Other features of the invention will'be explained with reference to its illustrative emodiment, which shows the invention associated and coordinated with a rolling mill comprising a housing 1 in which there are a pair of rolls 2 and 3. Back of the rolls there is a skeleton receiving table 4 having a mum ber of slots 5 arranged in line with the roll pass. In Fig. 1 the table is shown as being immovably mounted, and in Fig. 2 as being pivotally mbunted on a horizontal axis. Plates such as plate 6 are discharged from the rolls onto table 4, where they are picked up and transferred over the top of the rolls by a transfer rack 7, which comprises a plurality of arms 8 and Qattached intermediate their ends to trunnion 11. This trunnion is cradle'din a pair of arms 12 and 13 pivotally mounted in a frame 14 by shafts 15 and 16, respectively. These arms are rotated counter-clockwise to raise the transfer rack, and clockwise to lower it. To guide the movement of the rack as it is being raised and lowered, a guide lever 10 is rigidly secured to trunnion 11 at right angles to the rack. At the opposite ends of lever 10 there are suitable sockets in which there are mounted guide pins 17 and 18, adapted to move in a slot 19 formed in a guideway cam 21 forming a part of frame 14, the pins being mounted in lever 10 in such a way that they may be moved longitudinally towards and from cam 21. Guideway or slot 19 is arcuate in shape, and so arrangedlwith relation to the pivotal center of transfer rack 7 and to the center of rotation of cradle arms 12 and 13, that asthe rack is raised upwardly with pin 17 in slot 19 (Fig. 1) the rack is maintained in a substantially horizontal position during the major portion of its travel. However, as the rack approaches its upper limit the curvature of slot 19 is such that lever 10 causes the rack to tilt forwardly towards the front of the mill. The tilting of the rack reaches its greatest angle when at its upper liniit, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and position EE in Fig. 8; and when substantially in this position the plates carried by it slide off the rack over the top of the mill onto a stationary rack 22 positioned over upper roll 2 in front of the mill. Rack 22 prevents the plates from scoring the upper roll as theyfare passed over the mill, and a manually operable hook bar 23 is pro- 4 vided to prevent the plates from sliding down in front of the mill before the operator is ready to enter them in the rolls.

- In order to return rack 7 to it slower position in such a way that it will not interfere with a plate bein deposited or resting on table 4, it is rotated through a half revolution as it is being lowered. For starting'the rotating movement of the rack, a-latch mechanism 24 is pivotally mounted on frame 14 near the upper end of-cam 21, and arranged in such a way that it may 'be' rotated in a counterclockwise direction,-out' of the way of pins 17 and 18 when they are moving upwardly along slot 19, but will engage them when they are moving downwardly, causing them to be ejected from the slot. To bias latch 24 so that it will return to its pin-engaging position after lever 10 has passed over it on its upward travel, a spring 25 is connected between the top of the latch and a pin 26 mounted in frame 14. As rack 7 moves downwardly, lever 10 enga es latch 24, and the guide pin 17 is ejected rom slot 19. To facilitate this ejection, camway 21 is cut away on the inside of the slot adjacent to latch 24, as illustrated As pin 17 is thus moved out of slot 19, it is also moved longitudinally in-lever 10. away from cam 21 by an incline 30 (Fig. 5). When the socket of pin 17 engages latch 24, the one end of lever 10 is held substantially still, causing the rack to rotate. After being ejected from slot 19 the pin hub or socket of lever 10 passes through a slot 27 formed in part by latch 24, then through a gap to a cam block 28 attached to frame 14 by a pin 29. This cam guides the movement of rack 7 until it reaches the bottom of its travel, where it is in place to again pass upwardly through table 4. The ends of lever '10 are pointed so that they will engage pin 29, and direct the socket of pin 17 across the gap between latch 24 and cam 28. I

On the succesive downward strokes of rack 7, pins 17 and 18 are alternately pushed into the bottom of slot 19 by a spring-operated latch finger 31 positioned at the bottom of cam 21. As indicated in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2 and in full lines in Fig. 7, pin 17 passes under latch 31, which is yieldingly urged to its indicated position by a spring 33, and along the surface of cam plate 21 until it is pushed into slot 19. An inclined approach 32 is'provided on cam 21 to cause pin 17 to move longitudinally in lever 10 to clear cam plate 21 in case the pin does not stay in the position to which it was moved by incline 30. x What has been thus far said concerning pin 17 in one cycle of operation, applies to pin 18 in each alternate cycle.

While the movement of arms 12 and 13 by which the transfer rack is cradled may be ,effected in various ways, in the embodiment of the invention here illustrated this is done in coordination with the rolling mill through gear wheels 41 and 42 secured to the outer ends of stud shafts 15 and 16, respectively. For driving these gears, a sprocket 43 is secured to lower roll 3 which in turn is connected by a chain 44 to a sprocket wheel 45 loosely mounted on a shaft 46 journaled in the upper part of the mill housing. On the ends of shaft 46 there are crank arms 47 and 48 (Fig. 3) to which drive rods 51 and 52, respectively, are connected. The outer ends of these drive rods are provided with gear racks 53 and 54 which mesh with gear wheels 41 and 42, re-

spectively. A friction clutch 61 is provided gear racks 53 and 54 once with every revolution of shaft 46. With each reciprocation of gear racks 53 and 54, arms 12 and 13 are raised and lowered to raise and lower transfer rack 7 from the bottom to the top of the mill and back again. Friction clutch 61 is employed to effect the rotation of shaft 46 so that the movement of transfer rack 7 may be started and arrested at various times essential to the proper operation of the transfer apparatus.

For automatically arresting the movement of rack 7 when it is in its lowermost position, a latch arm is rigidly mounted on shaft 46 in alignment with a lever 56. This lever is pivotally supported at 57 in the frame of the mill, and has its inner end pivotally connected to a support member 58 mounted on the top of the bearing 59, in which roll 2 is supported. A helical spring is mounted inhousing 1 in a manner to bear upon lever 56 and bias its inner end downwardly. Hence with every up and down movement of roll 2 in response to a plate entering and leaving the mill the outer or latch end of lever 56 is lowered and raised. When a plate is between the rolls, support 58 is raised lowering the outer end of lever 56 so that it will engage latch arm 55 and stop the movement of the transfer rack when it is immediately below the top of receiving table 4. \Vhen the plate passes from between the rolls, roll 2 moves downwardly, lifting the outer end of lever 56 and disengaging latch arm 55 permitting shaft 46 and the transfer rack to move. Hence rack 7 is automatically arrested below the top of receiving table 4 whenever a plate is between rolls 2 and 3, and is set in motion as soon the roll.

That the operator of the mill may, at will, manually arrest the movement of transfer rack 7, latch 71, Fig. 2 is provided and arranged to engage latch arm 55. For operating latch 71 a pivotally-mounted manuallyoperable lever 72 is connected to the latch by.

means of connecting rods and bell crank 73. When lever72 is in its rearward position, as indicated in full lines in Fig. 2, latch 71 engages arm 55 when rack 7 is at the top of the mill, and accordingly stop the rotation of shaft 46. While the rack may be stopped in other positions by shifting the pointof contact of latch 71, it is desirable to stop the rack when it is in its uppermost position for reasons presently to be explained.

To discharge a plate from the mill after it has been completely rolled, receiving table 4 may be pivotally mounted in such a way that it may be tilted downwardly to permit the plate to slide from it. For supporting the table in sucha way that it maybe readily tilted, a pair of'skids 74 are pivotally attached to it and to a link 76 which in turn is pivotally connected to a support 77. A table-tilting rod 78 is connected between the lower end as a plate leaves of lever 72 and a point intermediate the two ends of link 76. Hence, when lever 72 is in its full line position table 4 is tilted downwardly, permitting the plates passing through the rolls to slide down skids 74. While separate levers may be employed for tilting table 4 and working latch 71, it will be readily seen as illustrated that lever 72 may be employed for actuating both. In which case, the transfer rack is automatically maintained in its uppermost position and out of the way of the plates when they are being discharged from the mill.

In the operation of the machine, a plate is moved from feed table 81 into rolls 1 and 2, from whence it is discharged onto receiving table 4. When the plate leaves the rolls, roll 2 assumes its lowermost position, permitting lever 56 to disengage arm 55 causing shaft 46 to be rotated through clutch 61. When shaft 46 rotates, rods 51 and 52 cause gears 41 and 42 to rotate and swing arms 12 and 13 first upwardly and then downwardly to lift and lower transfer rack 7. When rack 7 starts to move upwardly, its fingers 8 and 9 pass through slots 5 of the table and pick up a plate 6 resting on the table. As the rack continues upwardly it passes through positions AA, B-B, C-C, D-D and EE, of Fig. 8 to the top of the mill. It will be observed that the tilting operation of rack 7 begins to take place when the rack 7 is substantially in position CC, Fig. 8, and from there on the tilting increases until the rack projects over the top of the mill as shown in position E-E. When approximately in this position the plate slides off rack 7 onto stationary rack 22 (Fig. 1) where it is engaged by hook 23. During this operation latch arm 55 attached to shaft 46 is rotated through an angle of 180 and pin 17 is moved upwa fdly in slot 19, pressing latch 24 to the left (Fig. 1) as it passes it. On the return stroke of rack 7 pin 17 passes back along slot 19 until its socket in lever 10 is engaged by latch 24, which engagement takes place when rack 7 is in the positions indicated by FF, Fig. 9. The engagement of the socket of pin 17 by latch 24 initiatesthe rotating motion of rack 7, which continues H-H, I-I, J-J, (Fig. 9) and until the rack reaches substantially a horizontal position immediately beneath the u per surface of table '4, as indicated at K-%. During this return rotation of rack 7, the socket of pin 17 passes through slot 27 and along cam 28 as described hereinbefore, and at the same time latch arm 55 is rotated into engagement with lever 56 provided a plate is passing through the rolls at the time when the latch 55 approaches the engagement surface of the lever 56 thereby stopping the upward motion of the rack 7 until the rolls. The transfer rack is in this way returned to a position for repeating the transfer operation without interfering with a plate plate is through the throughpositions G-G, I

resting on the receiving table, or going through the rolls. Assuming there is a plate in the rolls when the transfer rack reached its lower position, upon the discharge of the plate from the rolls roll 2 assumes its lower positi'on and causes lever 56 to be actuated to release arm 55 and permit the transfer operation of rack 7 to be again repeated.

When the operator is ready to pass through the rolls a plate held on rack 22, he grasps the lower end of the plate with a pair of tongs and raises latch member 23, permitting the plate to be dropped upon table 81. By havlng means of this character for. taking care of the plates, a plurality of them may be con veniently worked in the mill at the same time without being interfered with in any, way by the transferring mechanism, and without interfering with such mechanism, thus increasing the production of the mill and reducing 1ts labor cost of operation.

When long sheets in single packs are being rolled in a mill to which this transfer apparatus is attached it is unnecessary to rotate the transfer rack on its return trip from the top to the bottom of the mill. This is due to the fact that there will be no sheets in the rolls or on the skeleton table during the returning operation'of the rack. Hence latch 24 may be replaced by an insert (not shown) in cam 21. Through the use of such an insert the transfer rack will move upand down guided by slot 19 with simple reciprocatory movement. 7

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle and operation of our invention, and have illustrated and described what we now consider torepresent its best embodiment. However,

we-desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invent1on may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim as our invention:

1. A plate transfer mechanism, comprising a skeleton receiving table, a single transfer rack pivotally supported intermediate of its ends and movable through said table, means for elevating said rack through said table for removing a plate from it, and means for lowering the rack and simultaneously turning it end-for-end tobring one of its ends upwardly beneath said table. a

2. A plate transfer mechanism, comprising a skeleton receiving table, a single transfer rack formed of a plurality of bars, elevating and lowering means pivotally engaging said rack intermediate of its ends, means for actuating said elevating and lowering means, means for maintaining said rack substan tially horizontal while being elevated to cause one of its ends to move upwardly through said table, and means effective while the rack is being lowered to rotate it on its pivotal support and cause its other end to move upwardly beneath said table.

3. A plate transfer mechanism, comprising a skeleton receiving table, a single transfer rack formed ofa plurality of bars, oscillatory means pivotally engaging said rack intermediate of its ends for raising and lowering it, a guide arm attached to said rack, and a cam engaging said arm to maintain the rack substantially horizontal while one of its ends is raised through said table and to turn the rack end-for-end while being lowered, whereby the opposite ends of the rack alternately move upwardly from beneath the table.

4:. The combination with a rolling mill, of

a plate transferring apparatus comprising a skeleton table arranged at the rear of the mill for receiving plates as they are discharged from the rolls, a single transfer rack arranged. at the back of said table, means for moving said rack upwardly through the table to the top of'the mill, and means for maintaining the rack in a substantially horizontal position during the major portion of its upward travel and for tilting it downwardly towards the mill as it approaches the top thereof.

5. The combination with a rolling mill, of a transfer mechanism for returning plates from the discharge to the entering side of the rolls, said mechanism comprising a skeleton receiving table, a transfer rack movable in a cycle upwardly through the table and downwardly beyond the end of the table to a position beneath its top, and means actuated by said mill for moving said rack through said cycle.

6. The combination with a rolling mill, of atransfer mechanism for returning plates fromthe discharge to the entering side of the rolls, said mechanism comprising a skeleton receiving table, a transfer rack movable in a cycle upwardly through the table and downwardly beyond the end of the table to a position beneath its top, means actuated by said mill for moving said rack through said cycle, and manually releasable means for interrupting said rack actuating means at the end of each of its said cycle of movements.

7. The combination with a rolling mill,of a skeleton table at the back of the mill for receiving plates as they are discharged from the rolls, a transfer rack for removing plates from said table and raising them above the rolls, a stationary rack at the top of the mill for receiving plates from the transfer rack, and releasable means for holding the plates on said last mentioned rack.

8. The combination with a rolling mill, of a pivotally mounted skeleton table for receiving plates discharged'by the mill, a rack provided with 'fingers for moving upwardly through said table to remove plates from it and return them to the front of the mill, means actuated by said mill for causing said rack to move downwardly beyond the table and upwardly to a position beneath its upper surface, and coordinated means for stopping the downward movement of said-rack and for tilting said table downwardly to discharge a finished plate from it.

9. The combination with a rolling mill, of a transfer mechanism for returning plates from the discharge to the entering side of the rolls, said mechanism comprising a skeleton receiving table, a transfer rack movable in a cycle upwardly through the table and downwardly beyond the end of the table to a position beneath its top, and means rendered effective when a plate is between the rolls for automatically arresting the movement of the rack in said last mentioned position.

10. The combination with a rolling mill, of a transfer mechanism for returning plates from the discharge to the entering side of the rolls, said mechanism comprising a skeleton receiving table, a transfer rack movable in a cycle upwardly through the table and downwardly beyond the end of the table to a position beneath its top, and means responsive to the separating of the rolls when there is a plate between them for arresting the movement of the rack beneath the top of the skeleton table and responsive to the closing of the rolls when the plate passes from between them for setting the rack in motion again.

11 The combination with a rolling mill, of a transfer rack for returning plates from the discharge to the entering side of the rolls, and a stationary rack at the top of the mill for receiving plates from the transfer rack,

said stationary rack being so disposed that it prevents the plates from contacting with the rolls as they are passed thereovei'.

12. The combination with a rolling mill, of a transfer mechanism for returmng plates from the discharge to the entering side of the rolls, said mechanism comprising a transfer rack pivotally supported in a rotatably mounted cradle, means for actuating said cradle to raise and lower said rack, and a cam-way. cooperating with said' rack for guiding the movement thereof in its raising and lowering operation.

In testimony whereof, we hereunto sign FRANK R. KRAUSE. RALPH o. STIEFEL. 

